Knowledge and Practice of COVID-19 Preventive Measures in an Internally Displaced Persons Camp, Zonkwa, Kaduna State, Nigeria - An Observational Study

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan China and declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The measures for prevention and control instituted and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) include hand hygiene, use of face masks and physical distancing. Physical distancing may be challenging in crowded places like internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps. Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, information about the COVID-19 response in IDP settings is limited. The objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge of COVID-19 among the IDPs in Zonkwa camp, determine the practice of preventive measures and educate the IDPs on COVID-19 preventive measures. A cross-sectional study using interviewer administered questionnaires was conducted among IDPs in Zonkwa camp, Kaduna State. A multi-stage sampling method was used to select respondents. Information about socio-demographic data, awareness about COVID-19 was collected and assessment of knowledge of respondents about modes of transmission and prevention of COVID-19 was done using multiple response analysis. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 26. Majority of the 276 respondents in this study were females, Christians and married. Television and radio were the major sources of health information about COVID-19, and awareness about the disease was high among majority of the respondents. The practice of preventive measures was poor, though better in males than females (p=0.04). A higher proportion of respondents with good knowledge of modes of transmission, and knowledge of symptoms were observed to have good practice of preventive measures, (p<0.001). The practice of infection preventive measures is very important in reducing the onset and spread of the COVID-19 infection. IDPs live in very peculiar conditions owing to their forced displacement. There was a significant association between the overall level of knowledge of COVID-19 and the practice of preventive measures among respondents. Continuous health education about COVID-19 by the Kaduna State Ministry of Health to the IDPs will improve the practice of COVID-19 preventive measures.